Bnet Fixes Afoot

This morning there will be some interruptions in File Sharing and stat services as we add capacity to our Bnet and File Sharing servers.

Today (10/15/2007) we're adding capacity to the database so it can keep up with the massive load of weekend games. The server will have to be rebooted during this time, which will disable both file sharing and viewing of stats on the website.

Sharing "should" only be down for about 10 minutes, and stats may see subsequent intermittent issues, which we will endeavor to keep to a minimum.

Halolcats

Halolcats is one of those cat-meme sites, only this time, all the "catptions" are about Halo and related themes. We realize this site is a little olde, but decided to see if we could crush their bandwidth by sending you to LOL, or HaLOL as the kids say over there.

Oh and one of the Halolcats is by a Bungie employee and is a photo of his actual cat. See if you can find it. Click HERE.

OMG My Stats are Borked!

Some folks have been experience statistical weirdness over the last few days, that weirdness is being rectified right now, but more weirdness is arising!

Over the past few days, some players (including myself) have noticed that their stats from games of Halo 3 have not been uploading to Bungie.net. The issue involved corrupted data that, in the simplest of terms, wasn't connecting players to their game data. The data still existed, the games just had to be relinked to the profiles.

Because of the way our database works, the most recently uploaded games affect the Player Bar at the top of your page. So, while the reprocessing is underway (it should conclude in the next 24-36 hours), things like your Rank and EXP may appear differently than they appear in game, specifically, they may appear how they were on say, last Friday. The good news is that the in-game display is correct and will be reflected on the website either after you play another game and it uploads, or one all of the processing is complete and you play another game -- that's because of the "most recently updated game history" bit I was talking about above.

So if your displayed rank, EXP or anything weird is showing up on your stats page, we're aware of it and it's the result of maintenance we are doing to keep everything current. Don't freak out, top men are on it.

Bungie Announces Independence: Press Release

Bungie is pleased to announce its new status as an independent developer with a continuing and mutually prosperous publishing relationship with Microsoft Game Studios.

Press Release:

For Release 8 a.m. PDT

Oct. 5, 2007

Bungie Studios Becomes Privately Held Independent Company

Bungie and Microsoft forge new long-term relationship.

KIRKLAND, Wash. — Oct. 5, 2007 — Bungie and Microsoft Corp. today announced a plan for Bungie Studios, the developers of Microsoft’s “Halo” franchise, to become a privately held independent company, Bungie, LLC, in which Microsoft will hold a minority equity interest. As part of this transaction, Bungie and Microsoft have forged a deep and long-term development and publishing relationship focused on the continued success of the “Halo” franchise. It is also the intent of both parties to expand their partnership to include new IP created and owned by Bungie.

Bungie’s critically acclaimed Xbox 360® exclusive “Halo 3” achieved $300 million in global sales in its first week. Released on Tuesday, Sept. 25, “Halo 3” is the fastest-selling video game ever and already one of the most successful entertainment properties in history.

“This exciting evolution of our relationship with Microsoft will enable us to expand both creatively and organizationally in our mission to create world-class games,” said Harold Ryan, studio head for Bungie. “We will continue to develop with our primary focus on Microsoft’s platforms; we greatly value our mutually prosperous relationship with our publisher, Microsoft Game Studios, and we look forward to continuing that affiliation through ‘Halo’ and beyond.”

“Working with Microsoft was great for us, it allowed us to grow as a team and make the ambitious, blockbuster games we all wanted to work on. And they will continue to be a great partner. But Bungie is like a shark. We have to keep moving to survive. We have to continually test ourselves, or we might as well be dolphins. Or manatees,” said Jason Jones, Bungie founder and partner.

Bungie’s management retained the services of Don Leeds, senior managing director of B-Hive Global, LLC, to spearhead the structuring of the deal and negotiate on their behalf. Bungie will remain in Kirkland, Washington, and is always looking to hire excellent talent.

About Bungie

Bungie was founded in 1991 with two goals: to develop games that combine brilliant technology, beautiful art, intelligent stories and deep gameplay, and to sell enough of those games to achieve its real goal of total world domination. Over the past 10 years it has produced games such as the “Marathon” trilogy and the first two “Myth” games, hailed as classics by critics and gamers around the world. Bungie’s “Halo” franchise is an international award-winning action title that has grown into a global entertainment phenomenon, selling more than 18 million units worldwide, logging billions of hours of multiplayer action on Xbox LIVE®, and spawning action figures, books, graphic novels, soundtracks, apparel and more. The critically acclaimed “Halo 3”, released on Tuesday, Sept. 25th 2007, is the fastest-selling video game ever, achieving $300 million in global sales its first week, making it one of the most successful entertainment properties in history. More information on Bungie can be found at http://www.bungie.net.

A/V Calibration Filter: Now Available

The Blue Filter, a non-essential tool you can use to finely tune your television is now available at the Bungie Store.

The Blue Filter, used in tandem with the A/V Calibration tool that comes in the Legendary and Limited Editons of Halo 3, is now available at the Bungie Store. The Blue Filter comes free with any order from the Bungie Store, make sure you add it to your cart though, because this item only has use for folks with the Legendary or Limited Editions of the game, due to its working partnership with the A/V Calibration tool

For a guide on how to use the Blue Filter once you receive it, click here.

Fight Like a Girl

Last year in October, the Cavegirls hosted an online Halo 2 tournament to raise money for the fight against breast cancer. Since the tournament was a huge success last year, we've decided to hold another tournament in Halo 3! Please join us!

The Cavegirls present: Fight Like a Girl 2Halo 3 tournament for the fight against breast cancer

When: October 20th, 2007Where: On XboxLiveEntry Fee: $10 (If you are playing in both 2v2 and FFA, you need to pay the entry fee for each tournament)Who can sign up? Anyone Time: 11 AM Pacific 12 PM Mountain 1 PM Central 2 PM Eastern

How this tournament came about:I was working at Safeway when I was inspired to put together a Halo tournament to help raise money for the fight against breast cancer. They actually wanted me to bake cookies on my day off. I decided to raise money my own way, so I asked my lovely Cavegirls if they were willing to help out. The tournament was a huge success. We raised $777 in three weeks, and the money helped fund a mobile mammogram station in Seattle, WA.

(Re-)introducing the Gallery Forum

The Gallery Forum is back! Weekly caption contents with our development outtakes.

Welcome back to the Gallery forum - I hear that we have plenty of good outtake screenshots from the Halo 3 development process, so we'll try and keep this going about once a week.To refresh your memory, we'll post a funny picture from our pre-release builds or other internal source (please don't submit pictures to us for posting) and you write back with funny captions. The best one gets promoted to the Winners' Circle thread. Judging usually will run for a week or so.

Here's a direct link to this week's thread. You can also find the forum by navigating to Community - Other Forums - The Gallery Forum

Halo 3 Launch Week FAQ : Updated 10/1

Now that Halo 3 is released, many of you have questions. Fortunately we have answers. UPDATED 10/1/07.

In the weeks and days ahead, we'll do our best to monitor pressing issues and questions from our community and keep you informed and up to date with the latest developments.

To kick things off, we've got a quick list of the most common questions we're seeing right now. We'll continue to update this post as new questions arise and new information becomes available. You can also use the forum thread attached to this story to post questions of your own for us to add to future updates.

thanks!

Halo 3 Launch FAQUPDATED 10/1/07

Q: I am hearing soft or muted weapon sounds from my Dolby
5.1 surround system and no weapon sounds from the center channel.

A: Because the center channel is a mono speaker and is less
flexible than front L and R speakers – our sound mix uses it primarily for
dialog. Weapon sounds do not come from the center channel, but rather in
full stereo from the front L and R speakers in a 5.1 setup. However, they
should not sound muffled. If they do, then check your individual speaker
settings and make sure that you are not using any “DSP” settings, such as
“Cinema, Concert Hall,” and so on, on your receiver or processor. These custom
settings can sometimes have a detrimental effect on audio balance. Look for the
default mode – typically “Dolby Digital 5.1” and note that there is no DTS mix
for our game audio. Your own weapons should, if your setup is correctly
adjusted, be among the most clear and dynamic sounds in the game, in Campaign
and multiplayer.

Q: I am encountering issues while playing Halo 3 where the game is apparently failing to read the disc properly. What should I do?

A: We are aware of reports that some people have received a "Disc Unreadable" error or similar issue while trying to play Halo 3. Bungie is working with the Xbox team to investigate the potential causes of this issue. Please visit the Microsoft Support Site and follow the listed instructions to see if this resolves the error message. For additional information or customer support, please call 1-800-4MY-XBOX.

Q: Why am I getting put into so many games of Shotty Snipers in the Team Slayer Playlist? (insert any other playlist related question)

A: We agree that Shotty Snipers is showing up a bit too much in Team Slayer and this is first on our list for our next immediate update to matchmaking. We will continue monitoring the playlist data as well as your feedback to establish priorities for future updates. You can share your thoughts in the Bungie.net forums. Also, by vetoing games/maps you don't like, you are giving us real world data to help us out.

Q: How do I customize my multiplayer apperance or adjust my controller settings?

A: If you press start to bring up the menu, you can press RIGHT with the stick to access the SECOND page of options. It is here that you can edit your armor, colors, etc...

Q: I started playing the campaign at my house but when I took my HDD/MU to my friend’s house and put it on his Xbox 360, it won’t let me resume my campaign. What’s up?

A: This is a known issue that our team is investigating. Currently, you are unable to transfer campaign progress to another Xbox 360 console whether you use a memory unit or take your hard drive. You can load up any mission or insertion point you’ve previously completed but you won’t be able to “resume” from your last saved spot.

Q: How do I purchase Bungie PRO?

A: Bungie PRO subscriptions are available now and can be purchased within the game by visiting your File Share.

Q: Help my screenshots/stats/progress is not uploading to Bungie.net!

A: As the number of people online continues to grow, it’s anticipated that there will be a delay for both screenshots and stat uploads to appear on Bungie.net. This is normal and expected. It’s important to note that your game history and screenshots and file share items are being saved, they are just caught up in a backlog of files on their way to the interwebs.

Also please note that screenshots will not appear in your Bungie.net gallery until you have put at least one item in your file share. Once you do that and the relationship is established, you’re good to go!

Q: I keep getting more than 10 headshots during missions in the Campaign, I'm seeing how many headshot medals I get on Bungie.net, but I'm still not unlocking the Headshot Honcho Achievement.

A: In order to unlock this achievement they need to be headshots with the sniper rifle.

Q: I pick up a Skull and I don't get an Achievement, wtf Bungie, fix yo' game?

A: Not all of the Skulls in the game award you Achievements, only the 9 scoring skulls.

Q: How do I unlock armor!

A: This is a mystery that our community will need to solve on their own. We may provide more details later, but it’s far too soon to spoil that right now.

Q: Where is X skull?

A: See above.

Q: Why can’t I put anything in my File Share?

A: This is most likely due to the privacy settings on your Xbox 360. From the Xbox, select “Edit User Profile”, then “Privacy Settings” and then for “Member Content” select “Everyone.”

Q: Matchmaking is slow and/or not working for me. What gives?

A: Yesterday there were some intermittent issues affecting Xbox LIVE but those were quickly resolved. Things should be operating normally now. If you are experiencing long waits, be sure to check your NAT settings as this can hinder your ability to find a good match. (www.bungie.net/router)

Pro Tip : When you are in the matchmaking lobby, hit the X button to bring up “Matchmaking Options.” From here, you can decide which matching criteria is most important – quickest, good connection or language preferences.

Q: Why didn’t I get my achievement after completing a mission?

A: First off, you can’t earn any mission completion achievements if you play on Easy. Secondly, don’t quit the game until you see the Achievement indicator appear on screen.

Q: How do I change my Bungie.net account name?

A: Sorry, you can’t.

Check back soon for additional information and updates to your most common questions!

Watch Bungie count down to launch

Tune in tonight to a live videocast from the multiplayer lab at Bungie's private launch party.

In between trips to local retailers to hang out with fans in line, we're having a quiet (?) little private party. Want to join us in spirit? While we can't admit drop-ins at our office, we do have a live video feed streaming from the multiplayer lab where Bungie staff, family, and a few friends will be playing Halo 3 all night long.

We've also invited the Bungie crew to stop by and greet you via the camera, so there's no telling what you'll come across tonight.

WARNING! This is a Mature-rated game, and the language you hear from our enthusiastic colleagues will likely match that rating.

Bungie Launch Teams Deployed!

Our Bungie strike teams have been deployed around the globe to support the launch of Halo 3. Stop by and say hello if you're in the area!

Our elite team of promoters and underground army recruiters has been mobilized and sent to the far reaches of the Earth to help kick off the release of Halo 3. There are literally thousands of midnight madness events happening all over North America today with even more happening in Europe tomorrow. We don't have the manpower to do them all but we have sent a few teams out into the wild to represent the Studio for this momentous occasion.

New YorkLukems already mentioned our presence at the Best Buy on 5th Ave. in New York City. Our very own Frankie will be there through midnight mingling with fans, kissing babies and maybe even giving away a few prizes. One of Bungie's art directors, Aaron LeMay and our studio manager, Harold Ryan, are also in attendance. St

SeattleThe marquee launch event for the Seattle area will be happening at Best Buy in Bellevue. There will be ongoing shenanigans there all evening through midnight. The store is located at 457 120th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA. Around 11pm, we'll literally have bus loads of Bungie team members showing up at Best Buy to meet fans and give out some free gifts. We're also sending a bus load of peeps to the EB Games located at Redmond Town Center in Redmond, WA. The festivities should be underway shortly after 11pm tonight though I'll personally be at Best Buy much earlier in the evening.

Los AngelesThe hoopla in LA will all be going down at the Gamestop located at Universal City Walk. (1000 Universal Studios Blvd., Universal City, CA, 91608). Bungie head of production, Jonty Barnes, will be there along with producer Allen Murray and environment artist Vic DeLeon. They too will be busy hanging out with fans, playing the game and throwing out some free swag.

MiamiThe sunshine state launch bonanza is happening at Circuit City in Miami. (Circuit City, 8575 Northwest 13th Terrace, Miami, FL). Bungie FX artist Steve Scott will be there along with development engineer Luis Villegas.

We also have a few people out in Europe helping to finish the fight for the game's launch on 9/26.

Joseph Tung and Lee Wilson will be in London to kick things off. Francois Boucher-Genesse will be representin' in Paris and Jaime Griesemer is holding down the fort in Amsterdam.

It's hard to believe we are mere hours away from unleashing Halo 3 upon the world - thanks for all of your ongoing support and we hope to see many of you tonight and tomorrow at these launch events!

Bungie in NYC for Launch Event Extravaganza

Members from the Bungie team have been dispatched to New York City for a massive launch event, check out the details within.

Tomorrow, Sept. 24th, beginning at 9 a.m. at the Best Buy in lovely New York City (the Best Buy at 44th and 5th), Bungie, Microsoft and tons dudes will be on hand until midnight, playing Halo 3 with the fans, goofing around, doling out tons of prizes, holding competitions and generally spreading the seeds of Infinite Win throughout the core of the Big Apple.

If that giant run-on sentence was too much to comprehend, here's the short and sweet:When: 9 a.m. until Midnight, September 24th 2007Where: Best Buy, New York City, 44th and 5thWhy: Halo 3's Launch Extravaganza, and who doesn't like prizes, treats and shenanigans?